A method of connecting to an Access Point (AP) in a portable terminal is provided. The method includes scanning at least one first AP and at least one second AP that has a different connection scheme from a connection scheme of the first AP; and checking a connection setting and connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of connecting to an access point (AP) in a portable terminal, the method comprising: scanning signals transmitted from each of a plurality of APs; identifying a connection scheme of each of the plurality of APs based on information included in each of the scanned signals; when a first AP that does not support a hotspot 2.0 and a second AP that supports a hotspot 2.0 are identified among the plurality of APs based on the connection scheme of each of the plurality of APs, determining a connection setting for connecting to one of the first AP and the second AP; selecting an AP from the first AP and the second AP to establish a connection based on the connection setting stored at the portable terminal; controlling to establish the connection with the selected AP; and controlling to access an information server via the connected AP, wherein the controlling to access the information server via the connected AP comprises transmitting an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) message for requesting an identification information of the second AP to the information server.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first AP is not connected to an information server, and wherein the second AP is connected to the information server.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the AP from the first AP and the second AP comprises selecting the first AP upon determining that the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that does not support a hotspot, wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that does not support a hotspot, the establishing of the connection with the first AP comprises: establishing the connection with the first AP based on the AP access history of the first AP and AP profile information of the first AP, and ignoring the AP history of the second AP, and wherein the AP profile information of the first AP is included in the signal received from the first AP.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the AP from the first AP and the second AP comprises selecting the second AP upon determining that the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that supports a hotspot, and wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that supports a hotspot, the establishing of the connection with the second AP comprises: establishing the connection with the second AP, and ignoring the AP history of the first AP.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a received signal strength indication (RSSI), the method further comprises: identifying whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP; identifying that the portable terminal is capable of connecting with the second AP; identifying an RSSI value for the first AP; identifying an RSSI value for the second AP; comparing the RSSI value of the first AP to the RSSI value of the second AP; establishing the connection with the first AP when the RSSI value of the first AP is greater than the RSSI value of the second AP; and establishing the connection with the second AP when the RSSI value of the second AP is greater than the RSSI value of the first AP.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a service set identification (SSID), the method further comprises: identifying whether the portable terminal has ever previously been connected to the first AP or the second AP, based on the connection information; identifying an SSID of the first AP and of the second AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal has previously been connected to the first AP and the second AP; establishing the connection with the first AP when the SSID of the first AP matches a predetermined SSID; and establishing the connection with the second AP when the SSID of the second AP matches the predetermined SSID.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a time from a last connection, the method further comprises: identifying whether the portable terminal has ever previously been connected to the first AP or the second AP, based on the connection information, establishing the connection with the first AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal was most recently connected to the first AP, and establishing the connection with the second AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal was most recently connected to the second AP.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: identifying whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP and the second AP, based on the signals received from the first AP and the second AP; and displaying, on a display of the portable terminal, a list including the first AP and the second AP, when the portable terminal has not previously been connected to the first AP and the second AP.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first AP is one of a first plurality of APs, wherein the second AP is one of a second plurality of APs, wherein the connection setting and the connection scheme of the first AP comprises a connection setting and a connection scheme for the first plurality of APs, and wherein the connection setting and the connection scheme of the second AP comprises a connection setting and a connection scheme for the second plurality of APs.
10. A portable terminal for connecting to an access point (AP), the portable terminal comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate using a short-range communication scheme; and at least one processor configured to: scan signals transmitted from each of a plurality of APs, identify a connection scheme of each of the plurality of APs based on information included in each of the scanned signals, when a first AP that does not support a hotspot 2.0 and a second AP that supports a hotspot 2.0 are identified among the plurality of APs based on the connection scheme of each of the scanned signals, determine a connection setting for connecting to one of the first AP and the second AP, select an AP from the first AP and the second AP to establish a connection, based on the connection setting stored at the portable terminal, control to establish the connection with the selected AP, and control to access an information server via the connected AP, wherein, when controlling to access to the information server via the connected AP, the at least one processor is configured to transmit an Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) message for requesting an identification information of the second AP to the information server.
11. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein the first AP is not connected to an information server, and wherein the second AP is connected to the information server.
12. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein, to select the AP from the first AP and the second AP, the at least one processor is configured to select the first AP upon determining that the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that does not support a hotspot, wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that does not support a hotspot, to establish the connection with the first AP, the at least one processor is configured to control to: establish the connection with the first AP based on the AP access history and AP profile information of the first AP, and ignore the AP history of the second AP, and wherein the AP profile information of the first AP is included in the signal received from the first AP.
13. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein, to select the AP from the first AP and the second AP, the at least one processor is further configured to select the second AP upon determining that the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that supports a hotspot, and wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP that supports a hotspot, to establish the connection with the second AP, the at least one processor is configured to control to: establish the connection with the second AP, and ignore the AP access history of the first AP.
14. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a received signal strength indication (RSSI), the at least one processor is further configured to: identify whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP, identify that the portable terminal is capable of connecting with the second AP, identify an RSSI value for the first AP, identify an RSSI value for the second AP, compare the RSSI value of the first AP to the RSSI value of the second AP, establish the connection with the first AP when the RSSI value of the first AP is greater than the RSSI value of the second AP, and establish the connection with the second AP when the RSSI value of the second AP is greater than the RSSI value of the first AP.
15. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a service set identification (SSID), the at least one processor is further configured to: identify whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP or the second AP, based on the connection information, identify an SSID of the first AP and of the second AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP or the second AP, establish the connection with the first AP when the SSID of the first AP matches a predetermined SSID, and establish the connection with the second AP when the SSID of the second AP matches the predetermined SSID.
16. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein, when the connection setting indicates a priority for an AP based on a time from a last connection, the at least one processor is further configured to: identify whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP or the second AP, based on the connection information, establish the connection with the first AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal has most recently been connected to the first AP, and establish the connection with the second AP, upon identifying that the portable terminal has most recently been connected to the second AP.
17. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: identify whether the portable terminal has ever been previously connected to the first AP or the second AP, based on the signals received from the first AP and the second AP received, and display a list including the first AP and the second AP on a display unit of the portable terminal, when the portable terminal has not been previously connected to the first AP and to the second AP.
18. The portable terminal of claim 10 , further comprising: a memory, wherein the connection setting is stored in the memory.
19. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein the first AP is one of a first plurality of APs, wherein the second AP is one of a second plurality of APs, wherein the connection setting and the connection scheme of the first AP comprises a connection setting and a connection scheme for the first plurality of APs, and wherein the connection setting and the connection scheme of the second AP comprises a connection setting and a connection scheme for the second plurality of APs.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the establishing of the connection to the selected AP comprises automatically establishing the connection with the second AP without user involvement and using credentials stored at the portable terminal, upon selecting the second AP.
21. The portable terminal of claim 10 , wherein to establish the connection with the selected AP, the at least one processor is configured to control to establish the connection with the second AP without user involvement and using credentials stored at the portable terminal, upon selecting the second AP.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
March 8, 2017
September 24, 2019
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